- Bulgaria produces more than 40 per cent of its electricity from coal.
- The climate minister expects market forces to herald an earlier demise of the most CO2-emitting fossil fuel.
Bulgaria’s climate minister, Julian Popov, said yesterday that Market economics will slash Bulgaria’s use of coal-fuelled power years before the government’s official 2038 phase-out date. Bulgaria produces more than 40 per cent of its electricity from coal, ahead of other sources, including nuclear energy and hydropower. Its target to phase out coal-fuelled power by 2038 has been attacked by climate campaigners who say it is too late and miners who took to the streets last year to protest the plan to cut coal generation gradually.
However, the climate minister said that he expects market forces to herald an earlier demise of the most CO2-emitting fossil fuel. Also, the European Union carbon market requires power plants to pay for every tonne of CO2 they produce, which makes more polluting energy sources more expensive and green sources more economically competitive. This helped cut coal’s share of Europe’s power mix in the last decade, favouring renewables and gas, which are still fossil fuels but produce less CO2 emissions.
Furthermore, Popov said countries should proceed cautiously and keep some assets as the emergency capacity that could fire up if power prices spike like they did last year when Russia slashed gas deliveries to Europe. In December, the EU announced 1.2 billion euros to create new jobs for coal workers and install renewable energy in Bulgaria’s Stara Zagora, Kyustendil and Pernik regions.